Thank you for visiting the ISU Ed. Leadershop. Our intent over the past few years has been to field-test community-engaged writings for PK-20 practitioner conversation -- quick, 5-minute "read's" that help put into perspective the challenges and opportunities in our profession. Some of the writings have remained here solely; others have been developed further for other outlets. Our space has been a delightful "sketch board" for some very creative minds in leadership, indeed.

We believe that by kicking around an idea or two and not getting too worked-up over it, the thinking and writing involved have even greater potential to make a difference on behalf of those we serve. In such, please give us a read; share with others. We encourage your thoughts, opinions, feelings, and reactions to our work and thank you for taking your time. You keep us relevant.

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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

A Special Person; A Special Story

A Special Person; A Special Story

By
Sarah Wareham

District
Autism Consultant

Office
of Special Services

MSD
of Wayne Township Schools

Indiana
State University Doctoral Student

&

Ryan
Donlan

Assistant
Professor of Educational Leadership

Bayh
College of Education

Indiana
State University

When meeting someone new or catching
up with friends, often the question, “How are things going at work?” comes into
the conversation. For those of us whose
work is our life’s calling, this topic is one that we are proud to embrace and
will talk for hours when given the chance.We embrace the occasion to share our experiences with those around us,
informing their understanding through our lens, and at times, asking for theirs.Yet how often do we ask ourselves, “What is
their take-away?”

As educators, we have a special
opportunity to tell our story each time the topic comes up, not only our story
of our week, but also the story of education, itself.Education is the one profession in which
everyone in our country has experience, and an opinion, as we all have attended
schooling of one form or another.These
experiences have made all of our current professions, livelihoods, and even our
abilities made possible to provide for family, friends, and loved.

Have we considered that we can use this to our advantage
when telling our story?

Dr. Brad Balch in our Department of Educational Leadership
probably articulates this best in the Bayh College of Education, the need for
educators to become more active in defining the realities of our current
profession for inquiring minds who want to know.We believe that telling our stories allows us
to better connect with those around us, forging bonds to each person’s K-12 experiences
through the emotional connections we have felt, either positively or negatively.For this reason, K-12 educators have an
obligation to leave lasting impressions on our friends and family by telling
the stories of our experiences.Yet do
we take these opportunities when given?

Currently, a disconnect exists between
the portrait of education painted through the media and the reality of what is
happening in our schools.If we had no
direct experience in schools, we might think that the future of public
education is dismal and further, that
society is crumbling because of it.Unfortunately,
this IS true in isolated instances of abject neglect for student learning, and
for students in these circumstances, we need immediate and effective actions
taken to provide them better for personally meaningful lives that are
economically productive and socially responsible.

However, for most students in our country, the K-12 system
of education is moving along quite well -- the need for a systemic overhaul simply
isn’t pressing, despite the haranguing of pundits and pontificators.Often unshared in the mainstream is the fact
that there are many great things happening for students in our schools, YES, in
the traditional, public schools that have been around for many, many years.

Take for instances the partnerships with the orthopedic
industry and the efficacy in leadership at all levels in the Warsaw Community
Schools under the stewardship of a dynamic, new, and innovative Superintendent
Dr. David Hoffert; or the leadership in school safety and academic intervention
in the Vigo County Public Schools, led by Superintendent Danny Tanoos, his fine
staff, and local law enforcement officials.Consider further the work of Dr. George Van Horn, Director of Special
Education in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation, and CAST who are
working to imbed the principles of universal design for learning across their
entire school corporation.

Wow!

Incredible people are doing special things for students,
families, and communities, some shared and many not.What is our obligation?

Amidst the sensationalized bludgeoning that is currently
en-vogue with many desiring election to office, from the PTO President to the
local school board to state and national positions, it is our duty as educators
to step out of the victim role and stop whimpering about how the media and
politicians are bullying us. If in
moving through victimhood we can access the openness though which to envision
another role for ourselves, we can then begin a path through resourcefulness
and persistence in sharing our message – our special stories.

In doing so, we will
then recognize that each time we speak of all the special stories happening
with teachers, children, paraprofessionals, and parent volunteers, we very much
have the ability to change the way others think.Our stories are emotionally compelling.More than that, our stories are honest,
regaling feats of heroism in the face of adversity – Of that special teacher
making a positive difference above all odds, serving as the parent, the coach,
or the confidant desperately needed in a given situation.

We bet that you have more than a few of these very special
people in your school building.How can
we tell their stories?

Consider the power in the fact that when we tell folks that
we are teachers, and DO IT RIGHT, the number one response really isn’t as much,
“I’ll bet you love your summers,” rather it is more genuinely, “It takes a
special person to do that!I could never
be a teacher!”

Again, that’s when we do our job in telling what is actually
special about when the buses drop-off children, each and every day.

Let’s capitalize on this sentiment and take those around us
from where they are to a better place in understanding why our educational
system is making a positive difference in a civilized society’s challenges,
with its bottom line that special people, well-trained to supplant what society
unintentionally abrogates, are working incredibly hard for students sent to us
by parents who with few exceptions, are simply “doing the best they can with
the hands in life they were dealt.”

Their stories then become interwoven in our partnerships,
and in our lives – very special, indeed.

________________________________________________

Sarah Wareham is a Doctoral Student in
Educational Leadership in the 26th Ph.D. Cohort Residency at Indiana
State University, studying Human Relations in Educational Administration with
Ryan Donlan, Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership.If you would like to share a story of your
own with them, please feel free to contact them at sarah.wareham@sycamores.indstate.edu or at ryan.donlan@indstate.edu.They would love to hear from you.

1 comment:

I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don’t know how to cook or clean, don’t want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

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